Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that has the disease: it is all turned white: he is clean.
Read Chapter 13
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Clean. The white leprosy causeth no itching. (Gorrheus.; Celsus, v. 28.) Theodoret (q. 16,) says, it is incurable; and therefore, the person infected is not shut up, out of pity. So St. Paul (1 Corinthians v. 11,) forbids us to eat with a dissolute Christian, while he allows us to have commerce with infidels, though they be wholly corrupt. But others assert, it is not so difficult to cure as that which is partial, ver. 14. The hand of Moses was stricken with this white leprosy, Exodus iv. 6. (Calmet)
This species is not so contagious. (Menochius)
Thus he wished us to understand that the man who is changed from his former carnal state to the whiteness of faith (which the world considers a blemish and a stain) and who is completely renewed is clean. He is no longer spotted, no longer mottled with both the old and the new.